Hypothetical Match-up Rates

Sorry for this wall of text, just been tossing around ideas in my head. I really hope some of you take the time to read this.

A lot of professional fighters have a fight every 6 months or so these days, although a long time ago there was a man by the name of Len Wickwar who has fought approximately 466 official matches, while more like over 500 bouts if counting the fights not recorded and all in just about a decade, that averages out to almost a fight a week.


Things are very different these days. Boxing as a sport has changed as well as the fighters who battle it out in the sacred ring. I don't think it's impossible for there to be another man with an outrageous amount of fights, maybe not to the degree of Len Wickwar but with the only difference being that the hypothetical fighter doesn't only have that equal passion for battle but also the makings to be a p4p prize fighter, which is what accounts for him having so many matches.

This kind of fighter would have been stronger then the average child in the early years. His frame would be medium with compact bones, mostly fast twitch fibers, and powerful arms and legs. At a young age 10-18 the child would do lifting and long distance running, even though the body is designed for sprinting, to improve on weaknesses. The fighter would never use substances, do drugs, or drink alcohol, had a body that healed fast and built tough, and had a granite chin. His intelligence would be average, but he'd have a lot of fighting spirit, heart, and guts, and thus would progress quickly through tough, daily training rather than a quick wit. The fighter would have a strong animal instinct in the ring, and a humble, fair attitude outside the ring. The weight range would be about be 165-185 and the reach would be average not to short nor too long, but the punches would have the power of a heavy weight and greater then average speed. The boxer would begin boxing at about 19 with a background in other combat sports and lots of athletic training background. Over the next 2 years he'd develop his skills as a boxer, always sparring like it was an official match, and strengthening his defense and with enough conditioning to go at least 6 full rounds full force without getting too tired, and from then on fighting at a moderate pace and an insane recovery rate. The fighter would be mostly an in fighter who'd throw a lot of hooks, always naturally taking some punches. The hooks would usually be directed to the ribs or a straight punch to the solar plexus at first to get the opponent to drop their guard, then hooks to the head. These hooks would use most of the range of motion the fighter has and have all his body weight put into them along with quick speed. He'd never or very very rarely clinch and if the opponent does, deliver punches to the gut or chin, until the opponent was off.

So that's what the fighters arsenal would look like. He'd begin a pro career at 21 and would fight for a decade give or take. Never starting trouble that would affect his training and always focused at reaching the top. Given this type of fighter, would he be able to fight professional, official matches anywhere from every week or two to three months at most for those next ten years? Of course, not all of those fights might be televised or even filmed, but official and just fought for the love of boxing, not green paper.

Do you think this is possible while maintaining a record of 80-90% wins, with at least 80% of those wins being KOs?

If this isn't the type of fighter that you think could maintain these kind of averages, then what would your ideal hypothetical fighter be like?

I think Prime Tyson could've done something like this, had he been more psychologically stable over the years and had a burning passion for battle.

 

I agree. I mentioned somewhere getting as many fights as Len would probably be too high a number. The figure I had in mind was more around 150-300 matches.

Sugar Ray and Greb were both a part of the inspiration for the post. Forgot all about Henry Armstrong. And as you say boxing has grown a lot over the years, but so have the fighters. In my mind I believe there are fighters out there who never get in the ring who had the natural potential to bring a lot to the boxing world had they trained for it among other things. I've met some genetic demons over the years who are monsters on that alone. They run like beasts, punch like bears, jump like frogs, and have inhuman reflexes. They are a bit rough around the corners, but the point is there's amazing fighters who never took up boxing.

Now imagine if these people had more discipline and trained regularly and decided to box, it's a possibility the sport would look very differently.

 

Very true. It's unfortunate too see established boxers who are immature, puppets, or greedy and box to live instead of live to box. Even though people come to boxing from all walks of life, and that's what makes it interesting, I believe being a champion is the equivalent to being a king of boxing, and the stories they tell with their fists should be one's where spectators can sense their love for the sport not their revenue. Those are the most satisfying matches to watch imo.